ABSTRACT
Objective To compare the effect of mediastinal lymph node dissection by video -assisted thora-coscopic surgery (VATS)with thoracotomy in the treatment of lung cancer.Methods 96 patients with non -small cell lung cancer were collected.Patients undergoing VATS were matched with those undergoing thoracotomy in terms of gender,age,clinical tumor stage,tumor location and surgical procedure.Results After matching,48 patients in VATS group and 48 patients in open group were eligible for analysis.In the VATS and open groups,the mean total numbers of dissected lymph nodes were (27.2 ±7.4)and (28.8 ±10.6)(P =0.507),the numbers of N1 nodes were (9.4 ±4.0)and (8.3 ±4.6)(P =0.323).And the number of N2 nodes was similar between the VATS and open group [(18.5 ±6.9)vs (21.3 ±9.9),P =0.201].No significant differences were observed between the two groups(all P >0.05 ).But the days of the postoperation and the chest tube indwelling in thoracotomy group were (8.1 ±3.9)and (7.3 ±4.4)days,which in the VATS group were (6.8 ±3.5)and (5.6 ±3.5),the VATS group had more advantages than the thoracotomy group(P <0.05).The intraoperative blood loss more than 400mL and peri-operative blood transfusion rate of the thoracotomy group were 27.38% and 25.00%,those of the VATS group were 7.03% and 8.60% respectively,which in thoracotomy group were higher than the VATS group.Conclusion Under-go our retrospective study,after mature VATS to treat lung cancer,with regard to the number of the dissected lymph nodes,VATS lobectomy can achieve complete mediastinal lymph node dissection compared with the traditional approach.There are more advantages by VATS in the complications.